RPGs

This standalone book contains over 170 encounters that can be dropped into a campaign as a filler wherever they are needed. The encounters are actually organized by environment, which makes it very easy to quickly find one when you need it. The encounters are simple, have treasure and possible hooks listed.

RPG Accessories

Wow, these are pretty fantastic-looking character sheets covers for D&D 5E. They fit a standard character sheet, and they have styles for each class. This campaign has raised over $40,000… but it will set you back $189 for a fully painted cover! Wow.

I love the opportunity to get some miniatures with non-generic fantasy art style. (it’s one of the main reasons I keep backing Dungeon Degenerates.) These metal miniatures are offered in the style of artists Peter Firmin and Oliver Northgate. I don’t know much about the artists, but I love the non-traditional look to the heroes.

Board Games

Expedition is the second expansion to a card game released 2 years ago. Expedition combines cards, an app, and dice to create a pick-up-and-go small box RPG experience. The base game dealt with fantasy, the first expansion horror, and this campaign is to expand into space. I’ve had this on my stack of unplayed games for quite some time, and I really need to get it to the table!

In Petrichor, you play a cloud spreading rain across the board via action selection. The base game was just released earlier this year to retail. This first expansion adds honeybees and a new honey action and bees to make the game more complex and replayable.

This is a miniature-heavy board game that is set in a dark fantasy forest setting. The miniatures are fantastic. Since this is a “first created” it’s another big miniatures campaign to be weary of, The game features both full co-op modes and one vs many. I’m starting to think having more than one game mode is a red flag in these games. However, if you’ve been looking for some really neat elemental miniatures, this might be the game.

Level 7 is a remaster of an older, out of print game that has a cult following. It’s a standard sci-fi setting of space marines vs aliens in corridors (hmm…) but the first edition of the game has gotten phenomenal reviews from big reviews like Dice Tower. Surprisingly, this second edition doesn’t add too much to the game, with some slight rules tweaks. If you own the original, you can get the upgrade for only $20.

This has got to be the week of Kickstarter expansions/reprints for existing games. Campy Creatures is a card game released last year. (7.1 BGG). The game doesn’t looks too compelling, but I love the art. This expansion adds 4 new creatures and makes enough rules revisions to call it a “second edition.” All-In is only $35.

This is by the designer and publisher of Star Scrappers (7.47 BGG). I backed their first game, and it was pretty good with good production values and decent board game sculpts on the minis. I love the theme here, it’s cops vs nuclear zombies in the 1980s. This looks a lot like Zombicide, maybe too much so. And the fact it’s only barely hit it’s $30,000 goal may be an indicator that there’s some fatigue on this genre. Great looking campaign, great art, great minis.

Just about a day left, and it looks like Trailhead is going to eek past its goal. This is a really interesting-looking game about hiking, It’s “mint tin” sized, which makes a great game to throw in a pack on a hike. It has a “Forbidden Island” feel as you’ll be making your way along a treacherous trail attempting to keep your water up and dodge bears.

This is a pretty cool fantasy-themed worker placement. You’ll be rolling dice and trying to match them to the floors of the tower in gameplay. You can use workers or dice to complete a floor, and then you get to place another on top creating these satisfying little stacks of cardboard on the table. Watch the beautiful video below to get a quick idea of how it plays.

This is a cartoony overworld crawler where you’ll be teaming up by quickly rolling characters and setting out to fight monsters. The gameplay elements seem really well-thought out here, and there’s a captivating set of instructional videos (that’s a rare thing to say!) This is by the same publisher/designer that released Who Goes There, a big hit released earlier this year.

I love the miniatures and the gonzo theme here. There’s not much to say beyond these are giant wacky monsters beating up on each other in arena. You’ll either love this stop-motiony style miniature or hate it. This is the first game by J. L. Fairclough, but he’s had a successful string of miniatures Kickstarters prior to this.

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*None of the campaigns mentioned here are sponsored or influenced via payment, prize or other means. If we know or have a connection to someone running the campaign, we will mention it in the campaign notes. If there is a campaign you think should be mentioned here, please e-mail us and tell us what makes it special and we'll review!